Screen Scene
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 25, 2001 9:00 p.m.
“K-PAX” Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeff
Bridges, Mary McCormack Directed by: Iain Softley
Most alien movies consist of laser beams, UFOs and ugly little
green men. In the new movie “K-PAX,” however, Kevin
Spacey is not green, has no space ship, and will not phone home.
It’s definitely a sci-fi movie with something different to
offer. Spacey plays a human-looking individual named Prot who
claims to be from a distant planet called K-PAX. Throughout the
film, viewers are supposed to determine whether Prot is an alien or
just one very confused individual. One of the main faults of the
film is the initial lack of ambiguity as to Prot’s identity.
All signs point to Prot being an alien until one plot twist toward
the end of the movie. “K-PAX” works off an interesting
premise, but ultimately fails to maintain a tight grasp on the
audience’s attention. While the question of Prot’s
alien identity remains in question throughout the film, audiences
will know one thing with complete certainty: Spacey and Jeff
Bridges are bad ass. The acting in the movie is phenomenal. Spacey
and Bridges interact wonderfully and the eerie Prot and the
professional psychiatrist create an interesting dynamic that works
well throughout the film. While the premise is interesting and
thought- provoking, and the acting is quality, the movie is not as
entertaining as it should be. And a movie about aliens should
always be entertaining.
Suneal Kolluri
“13 Ghosts” Starring: Shannon Elizabeth,
Tony Shalhoub Directed by: Steve Beck
It’s a good thing Shannon Elizabeth is incredibly
attractive, or else “13 Ghosts” would be a complete
waste of time. While the film is supposed to be scary, it actually
turns out to be 90 minutes of humorous confusion. The plot makes no
sense, the ghosts look completely ridiculous, and the acting makes
Neve Campbell look like an Academy Awards contender. As bad as the
“Scream” movies may have been, “13 Ghosts”
takes teen horror movies to a whole new level of crumminess. The
absurdity of the plot is the first of many things wrong with the
film. Kathy (Elizabeth), her father Arthur (Tony Shalhoub,
“Men in Black”) and her kid brother Bobby (Alec
Roberts, “Traffic”) inherit a new home from an uncle of
Arthur who he hasn’t seen in decades. Nonetheless, they
decide to take a look at the strange house. The ghosts in the house
are almost as ridiculous as the plot itself. The ghost that looks
like Mr. T with spikes on his head is supposed to be the most evil,
and a “princess ghost” runs around naked with bloody
scars on her plastic-looking breasts. These goofy ghosts may make
viewers laugh, but are only occasionally the slightest bit spooky.
Since there is very little suspense and very little plot or
character development, the movie relies solely on gore to make
itself scary. “13 Ghosts” tries to be terrifying, but
turns out terrible.
Suneal Kolluri
“Fat Girl” Starring: Anais Reboux, Roxan
Mesquida Directed by: Catherine Breilat
Combining beautiful frames with a slow but emotionally
dense pace, cinema francais’s “Fat Girl” is more
satisfying than French fries. Based on the love-hate relationship
between sisters Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) and Elena (Roxane
Mesquida), “Fat Girl,” directed by Catherine
Breillat, follows the girls through frank discussions of virginity
and morality and petty fights over who is trying to copy whom. The
film is strongest in its tendency to take its time. The scenes
finish only when their primary emotions are completely played out.
Though the dialogue between the sisters is a little deeper than it
is realistic, their conversations, and Elena’s conversations
with Fernando, are a fascinating look at a teenage girl’s
fear of sex and what it is that binds sisters together. Anaïs
and Elena are shot mostly in and around primary colors, where skin
functions as an interesting visual contrast, but the backdrop of
the ocean is a little more muted. The cinematography as a whole,
with its simple camera angles and deliberate coloration, gives the
movie a luminous beauty. The ending of the film is no great
conclusion, as it throws the audience many unanswerable questions
and some disturbing comments about rape. “Fat Girl” is
a well-crafted movie which takes the typical European tradition of
coming of age through sex and twists its generic adolescent
quandaries into something fairly intriguing.
Kelsey McConnell
